there are no blackout dates??????

I have undestood that there are no blackout periods in the Marriott Awards program.But there are.A years ago I tried to use some points(Iprefer to use only some at a time) in reserving a room at the Ocean City md. Courtyard.The announcement comes on the site once you indicate that you wish to use points that no points can be used.The same thing happened this year.Plus they give no AAA or senior discount.I would want to urge people to avoid this hotel but I have stayed there and it is a fine hotel.BUT let us be truthful:there ARE such outdated things like blackout periods.To pretend there are not is lie. Some may try to explain it away by saying it is a beach hotel and it is summertime.But if it looks like ablackout time iit IS a blackout.Besides the Marriott hotels in Virginia Beach DO ACCEPT points.

The 'no blackout dates' policy has been discussed on this forum many, many, many, many times. The fact is there ARE blackout dates. To say that a 'limited' number of rooms are available is just creating a 'bag of bones'.

Toss the 'no blackouts' statement in the dumper. It does more harm than good for us to struggle to use a 'points' redemption when there is so much grandstanding about a 'no blackout' policy done by Marriott. It just aggravates folks to have this 'stated' policy that COULD mean that only ONE room is available before a 'blackout' ensues. It's very misleading and posters have had this commentary/aggravation too many times.

What does it mean to have “No Blackout Dates”?

Hotels have standard rooms available for redemptions every day. Blackout dates traditionally refer to a limited number of dates on which a hotel could choose not to accept redemptions. With our new “No Blackout Dates” policy, hotels will no longer have blackout dates for redemptions. Hotels may limit the number of standard rooms available for redemption on a limited number of days.

So my guess is that the hotel reached it's limit of rooms for redemption. Whether they accept AAA or any other discount is probably up to the property also. I agree that it's probably not the best idea and they should make it uniform across all their properties, but I don't see this happening. I wanted to stay at a hotel near the beach also and tried to book 2 months in advance. Still no success. They only have paid rooms available. So basically if it is the summertime and near the beach, expect the limit of redemption rooms to be all filled up. I don't know the exact numbers but they can probably say we will only have a few rooms open for redemption and it will be used up quickly. It's all about location...travel 20-30 minutes out and rooms are plenty and cheaper.

The 'no blackout dates' policy has been discussed on this forum many, many, many, many times. The fact is there ARE blackout dates. To say that a 'limited' number of rooms are available is just creating a 'bag of bones'.

Toss the 'no blackouts' statement in the dumper. It does more harm than good for us to struggle to use a 'points' redemption when there is so much grandstanding about a 'no blackout' policy done by Marriott. It just aggravates folks to have this 'stated' policy that COULD mean that only ONE room is available before a 'blackout' ensues. It's very misleading and posters have had this commentary/aggravation too many times.

The airlines started this before Marriott. No blackout dates but capacity controls. A date might not have any rooms or just a few. When Marriott gave us the improved rewards packages that had no blackout dates, they did not mention capacity controls. To me it seems like this is worse, at least with blackout dates, you can plan around the dates.

Unfortunately, there is no way to know how many, if any, rooms are available for redemption. That is why this policy is so misleading. There are NO published guidelines to establish a standard for Rewards redemption and how that fits into a 'no blackout' policy as it is currently stated. There is absolutely zero transparency in how this policy works and how any of it's conditions are actually applied. It's apparently (because nobody knows) at the discretion of a given property how they apply the 'standard'.

To me 'No Blackout Dates' means.........NO blackout dates. If that is the statement of the policy that is used for promotional puposes, then DON'T have blackout dates....DON'T have all sorts of conditions that render the policy meaningless.....DON'T have the policy governed by a set of rules that nobody has any sort of clue how they work......DON'T have properties that don't even participate in the 'policy'.....DON'T submit your best customers to this type of aggravation.

Fix it so NO means NO or throw out the policy because it's not a policy. It's a misleading process that unfortunately insults and angers quite a number of Marriott customers. Period.

I know nothing will change........but I guess it makes me feel better just venting here because this policy is SO misleading. In all my years of running and fixing businesses I would never have allowed a marketing tool of this type be implemented with the 'caveats' this one has. It's just wrong.

By the way, that 'caveat' word is tongue in cheek . Now, if you think of an antonym for caveat, you'll have a realistic word.

Is anyone listening?Even if someone said you are mistaken and then tell us why .But there is silence.A policy as clearly stated as "there are no black out dates"should be able to be explained when it appears the policy is not true.But one gets the feeling that we are like demanding children who are appeased with a smart new forum where one can vent and ask questions but then are ignored.But we are not chidren ,we are people -customers-who support Marriott and give them our business.

Sac - oh, they listen, they choose not to engage. Post a Spirit to Serve and you'll see a corp response within the hour, a few at most. Whether it be BOGOs, weekend breakfasts, upgrade explanations, or the $89 promo that is taken in the first week yet remains as a FROM $89 for another eight months, we all have our favorite venting subject, that's what makes this forum enjoyable for me; not necessarily the solutions from Intergalactic HQ, but the camaraderie and insights from the insiders (sort of a misery loves company uplifting). Tef, in the dugout we used "ooga booga" for the antonym of caveat, essentially meaning; it doesn't matter what was said or stated, "ooga booga" essentially, kiss off (and of course the 18-21 year old men had a more scatological term). Keep on, keepin' on Insiders, it's all good.